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Onaatah

November 22, 2016

Director: Pradip Kurbah / India / 2015 / 117 min / Khasi

Synopsis What do you do when life reaches a dead end? Giving up is an option, but certainly not the only or the best option. Onaatah a rape victim, wounded from inside and by the stereotypes of society realizes the same too. She refuses to be a loser but doesn’t know how to pick up the pieces of a broken life. When the events of one fateful night leave her scarred and the courts and society keep dragging her hurt for years; she is almost broken.

WORK EXPERIENCE
Position
• Direction, including pioneering film making in Meghalaya, and winning the coveted National Film Award in 2014.
• Has created seven Khasi music albums as Music Composer
• Produced (number) films in various dialects of Meghalaya
• Directed Four Khasi feature films namely, HEP, KA MON BAJWAT, MESHUA & MELODY, RI, ONAATAH
• Directed more than 150 music videos in different languages
• As composer, has done 7 Khasi music albums and two films in Khasi language

EDUCATION
• Matriculate

OBJECTIVE
An open minded but focused, passionate about films, I’m a self taught filmmaker with a 10+ years of experience in the field of direction, I would like to enhance my skills and utilize my creativity for the advancement of the film industry in North-East India especially my home state Meghalaya, and It has always been my personal desire to showcase the immense talent pool available in the State of Meghalaya, and North east in general. Further, such opportunities provide me an opportunity to further develop my learning in the field of music composition and filmmaking. The recent achievement of being conferred with National Film Award for the film Ri – homeland of uncertainty, and further witnessing the film being selected for the Indian panorama at the 45th IFFI Goa has renewed my vigour and desire to further create more meaningful films for the benefit of the general population.

Director’s Statement It is difficult for societies and nations to be happy when one gender is unhappy. When women world over are subjected to rape and humiliation; it becomes a dark part of our history. My protagonist Onaatah, is a victim of rape. But no. This is not a tale about the legal system or the path taken to get justice. This is Onaatah’s story as a person. This is the story of a woman who is falling apart and yet tries to pick the pieces of her life. The damage that the heinous act of rape causes is not just physical or mental. There is a lot of stigma and even as the culprits are jailed and punished, the victim is also given a life sentence by society. Why wouldn’t a rape victim have a right to live; a right to love? Why should a rape victim live a life of abandonment? Onaatah is one such story where our protagonist asks these questions and takes a journey that gives her the answers.